The Lunchtime Guide to Student Blogging: By Anand Ramchand

Transcription

1 Technlgy in Pedaggy, N. 2 The Lunchtime Guide t Student Blgging: By Anand Ramchand Technlgy in Pedaggy, N. 2, April 2011 Written by Kiruthika Ragupathi Anand Ramchand, an Instructr frm the Department f Infrmatin Systems shared his experience in getting his students t use blgs. He started the sessin with a brief intrductin t blgs, explaining hw blgs are a special instance f a website with a lg f regular updates listed in reverse chrnlgy, and the ease with which they can be published and accessed. He indicated the interactin in the frm f cmments differentiated blgs frm ther platfrms. Blgs fr Reflective Learning In the year 2010, Anand used blgs as a tl t fster reflective learning in his students taking the freshmen mdule titled Cmputing & Sciety. The mdule s primary fcus was n the ethical, scial and legal implicatins in the use f infrmatin technlgy. The bjectives f this mdule were t get students (wh are being educated in cmputing) t be sensitized t and evaluate the ethical issuses invlved in technlgy design, develpment and use, and t get them t explre the wrld f IT as technlgy prfessinals rather than users. Based n feedback frm previus semesters, he understd that thugh students learn and becme aware f issues related t ethics, they did nt frm deep and meaningful pinins abut the issues. Hence t help his students get actively engaged in deeper thught prcesses, Anand identified the need fr student reflectin. He believed that wuld facilitate his students t draw ut persnal experiences and assumptins in evaluating ethical dilemmas. He narrwed dwn t using blgs, in particular the Blg.NUS platfrm, after cnsidering a range f tls that were available cncept maps, essays, discussin frums, and wikis. This NUS platfrm prvided an fficial envirnment, setting clear bundaries within which students culd blg and perate based n NUS IT plicies. His class had 170 students, and hence he resrted t grup blgging with 3 t 4 students per grup (a ttal f 44 grups). Each student in a grup was required t make 4 psts at regular intervals during the semester. He assigned 10% f the grade t the grup blg, and students cntributins f cmments n ther blg psts were a cmpnent f their class participatin scre (which accunted fr anther 10% f their grades). Sme grups psts spanned a wide umbrella f tpics while ther grups were mre fcused in their blgging. T jckey fr visibility, grups als gt creative, cntrversial and used varius frms f multimedia in their blgs. Cpyright 2011 Natinal University f Singapre. All Rights Reserved. 1

2 Technlgy in Pedaggy, N. 2 Pedaggical Advantages that Blgs Offer Anand highlighted the fllwing features that prmpted him t use blgs fr his mdule: 1. Knwledge cnstructin is aided with scial interactin Fr students t develp knwledge, they need scial interactin. Blgs permit cllabratin, and allw students t debate and discuss issues psitively, facilitating the scial cnstructin f knwledge. In case f frums, students tend t write their pinins and cmments briefly, and smetimes nly when prmpted, while blgging allws students t create a mre cmprehensive cmmentary n a regular basis. The actin f writing this cmmentary and subsequent interactin arund it fster sense making and knwledge cnstructin in students. 2. Persnal wnership ver thughts and understanding prmtes better effrt Blgs dcument students thught prcesses n hw ideas cnnect and evlve ver time and als facilitate the rganisatin f infrmatin int meaningful persnal narratives. They give students the flexibility f deciding and frming their wn writing style n hw infrmatin can be presented with images, pictures, and vides. Thus, students have wnership ver their blg entries making it their intellectual prperty and this again differentiates blgging frm ther tls like discussin frum which enables students t develp a sense f respnsibility ver the infrmatin they uplad. 3. Infrmality in blgs encurages engagement Blgging has sme frm f infrmality t it, unlike essays, and this infrmality allws students t cmment n each ther s blgs, create their psts at their wn time and pace. This gives students the pprtunity t develp enugh understanding f a cncept befre articulating it int text. Students becme engaged nt nly in their writing, but als in their peers writing. 4. Enhance writing and cmmunicatin skills Making blg entries helped students t hne their writing and cmmunicatin skills. Thus, blgging can build a structure fr reflective learning thrugh knwledge creatin and sharing and influences students t respnd t thught prvking questins, reactins t phts and images, give pinins, discuss and debate n issues. Take-hme Lessns frm the Blgging exercise Keep up the mmentum t encurage students t make better psts. This wuld require the instructrs and tutrs t read and cmment regularly t prvide the necessary feedback. Prvide students with easy access t the class blgs s they will read them. Fr example, prvide: a single list cntaining links t each individual student blg an aggregated list f all blg psts made by all students (blg aggregate sites like NetVibes.cm are helpful in achieving this) Cpyright 2011 Natinal University f Singapre. All Rights Reserved. 2

3 Technlgy in Pedaggy, N. 2 an OPML file (a file cntaining a structured list f blgs) cntaining all the class blgs. If students are using blg readers (e.g. Ggle Reader), the OPML file allws them t subscribe t all the class blgs in their reader quickly and easily. Use face-t-face (F2F) lecture time t highlight exemplar blg entries, discuss gd and bad psts, and prvide guidelines and pinters t imprve subsequent psts. Use blgs as a surce f student feedback, allwing them t guide the selectin f discussin tpics fr class, and als t bserve hw students understand and apply cncepts. Tpics and examples that students blg n can be used in F2F classrm discussins, and this serves t further engage and encurage students. Set up a gd grading criteria T get students t reflect apprpriately when writing their blg psts, guidelines need t be prvided. This is dependent n the curse and its bjectives. Here is an example frm Anand s curse n hw students psts were categrised: Relevant a pst cntaining infrmatin relevant t the curse is the bare minimum; Descriptive the pst describes a state f affairs well and is useful fr ther students t read; Analytical the pst prvides sme analysis n a state f affairs and draws a lgical, sund cnclusin Nrmative a student is able t identify ethical principles, phenmena and values being affected by a state f affairs, evaluates the effects, and prvides claims f gd/bad and ethical justificatin; Multi-Perspective a student cnsiders different/multiple perspectives invlved befre making ethical claims; Engaged a student is able t engage ther students thrugh subsequent discussins and demnstrate thrugh invlvement in the tpic discussed Use checkpints t make sure that students d a prgressive submissin f blg entries at regular intervals during the semester. Get students t use apprpriate user identities (e.g. matriculatin numbers r fficial IDs, instead f nicknames) t help in identifying blg authrs and cmmentatrs fr grading. Legal/cpyright issues need t be explained t students. Instructrs t lead by example by writing blg entries that are exemplary and als start discussins n students blg entries. In summary, Anand acknwledged that the exercise was a success as he was able t get his students t explre and engage in the wrld f IT mre deeply than befre. He als indicated that his students were invlved in a mre reflective thught prcesses. He was als happy that sme f his students were cntinuing t engage their peers n their blgs even after the curse ended. Cpyright 2011 Natinal University f Singapre. All Rights Reserved. 3

4 Technlgy in Pedaggy, N. 2 Summary f the Discussin A lively discussin fllwed the presentatin, with participants ffering suggestins n hw they used blgs: One participant suggested prviding guidelines and wrd limits fr the blg entries and cmments, and t get students t prvide bth a fr and against stance when cmmenting. Anther participant elabrated n hw she and her team required each student t make a blg pst as part f their CA assignment. Students were given ample preparatin time with specific set f guidelines laid ut. Her team assigned ne tutr t grade all the blg psts made by the students f that class t accunt fr fair grading and that was made easy with the set f guidelines. Other tutrs/tas psted cnstructive cmments n each f the students blgs t encurage student discussin n the blg psts. Few participants wndered if Facebk wuld be a mre cmfrtable platfrm rather than blgs, while there were thers wh argued that they wuld nt use Facebk. Thse wh wanted t use Facebk felt its prximity with students wuld be a plus factr. Thse wh bjected felt that Facebk had particular drawbacks, being a third party applicatin gverned under US laws and with frequently changing privacy terms. Others added that material psted n Facebk by students was legally Facebk s prperty and that ne cannt be sure if materials deleted frm Facebk are actually remved cmpletely. Q & A Sessin Fllwing the presentatin, a lively discussin ensued and listed belw are sme questins frm the subsequent Q & A sessin. Q: Nrmally when smene makes changes t a blg pst, they nrmally just strikethrugh. Hw d yu deal with it? D yu have t save the previus versin t check the changes made? Fr my class, my students did nt use the strikethrugh methd but instead made changes in the Cmments field. When the psts were edited, students marked the edited parts e.g. with a wrd Edit r clured in red fnt. Q: I use blgs t make status updates fr a language class n German t imprve their language skills. But smetimes sme students make a number f updates (f bad quality) while thers resrt t the minimum requirement. Hw wuld yu manage this? Fr ur case, we use blgs t fr students t give essay psts while yur purpse was t use the German language mre. Yes, I have students wh are familiar with blgs that keep psting while thse wh are nt familiar will stp at the minimum requirement. Fr a start, we gave suggestins n tpics and cmments n hw entries culd be imprved by highlighting the gd and bad psts. Sme suggestins by ther lecturers were t ask students t peer-review their classmates blg, r t get students t recmmend a chsen pst t be graded instead f grading all their writing. T help students in making quality psts, we shuld make sure the instructrs and tutrs are trained in prviding cnsistent feedback t the students. Cpyright 2011 Natinal University f Singapre. All Rights Reserved. 4

5 Technlgy in Pedaggy, N. 2 Q: D yu give any guidelines n hw t cmments? N. We didn t expect many students t cmment n thers psts, but they did. We thught the nes cmmenting will be tutrs. T start, we highlighted gd blg psts in lecture, and students wuld read them and begin cmmenting. The subsequent blg entries gt better and better, as students cmmented n each ther s thughts. Q: Last week, we had a wrkshp n Facebk. I think Facebk is similar but better. What are yur views? The yunger generatin feels blgging is nt s much in fashin. But they blg n Facebk ften. We wanted this exercise t have a little mre security and cntrl, and t be within NUS s fficial walls (rather than using an external blgging platfrm). NUS s blgging platfrm inherently requires students t adhere t NUS s IT plicies, s they knw there are already cmmn guidelines in place fr acceptable behavir and etiquette. Cpyright 2011 Natinal University f Singapre. All Rights Reserved. 5

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